Emirates Stadium side set for very busy summer.
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will look to conduct a major Gunners squad shake-up this summer.
Having been told to trim the club’s expansive squad ahead of the arrival of big-name additions Wenger is set to offload as many as a dozen members of his playing staff. Such moves come as UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) guidelines begin to bite and will have the knock-on effect of reducing the club’s reliance on farming out talents on loan in quite such high numbers.
Wenger will look to attract established top quality talents to the Emirates Stadium when the transfer window re-opens and the North London club are ready to relax their wage ceiling to do so, this too is an option made more affordable by the push to offload those who are not active members of the Arsenal first team squad but nonetheless get paid handsomely into the bargain.
First out the door will be French centre-back Sebastien Squillaci and veteran winger Andrei Arshavin, both players coming to the end of the contracts this summer though effectively having failed to have any real impact on first team matters some time ago. Wenger had tried to offload the pair in successive transfer windows but failed to do so and will now see the duo leave for nothing.
Then come a host of players who have been sent out on loan for much of the current campaign, and in some cases even longer, individuals who have failed to secure a spot in Wenger’s first team squad and show no signs of ever managing to do so.
Brazilian wing-back Andre Santos is enjoying a new lease of life in his native Brazil and Wenger is ready to make his temporary move to Gremio a permanent one and is willing to accept cut-price offers to make such a deal a reality. Similarly Denilson, who is now into his second spell at Sao Paulo, could be handed to his home-town club for a nominal fee. The 25 year old last played for the Gunners in March 2011.
Marouane Chamakh cost Arsenal nothing when he joined the club from Bordeaux on a free transfer but Wenger is very keen to sell the Moroccan so as to have the 29 year old’s reported £60k a week wage packed wiped off the balance sheet. A loan move to West Ham hasn’t worked as the shop-window the Arsenal boss would have hoped for but a move back to Ligue 1 is looking increasingly likely.
Nicklas Bendtner has all but burned his bridges at Juventus, the Dane becoming something of a laughing stock for off-field antics during his season long loan spell at the Turin side. Antics that have most recently included being arrested for a drink-driving offence in Copenhagen.
Wenger probably didn’t expect the giant forward to secure a permanent switch to the Serie A title holders but may have hoped that such a high-profile loan move could help Arsenal to garner a decent fee for the 25 year old striker. Now the Gunners manager is ready to accept offers of around £5m for the faltering attacker.
Park Chu-Young has impressed in patches during his loan spell at Celta Vigo and once again Wenger is ready to listen to fairly minimal offers in order to offload the player this summer. The South Korean has been something of a disappointment for the Arsenal boss who brought the striker in from his former club Monaco.
Despite the club’s lack of defensive midfielders Arsene Wenger was happy to loan out Emmanuel Frimpong to Fulham and is willing to sell the young battler after failing to be impressed by the displays put in by the 21 year old. Martin Jol has publicly stated his interest in signing Ghanaian international and will get a chance to do so this summer.
With Arsene Wenger readily scouting for an experienced custodian he is ready to offload one of his three current first team options and Italian Vito Mannone is the player most likely for the chop.
Lukasz Fabianksi’s recall to the first team has seen the Pole impress and his fellow countryman Wojciech Szczesny, though by no means convincing this term, still enjoys the backing of Arsene Wenger who realises that at the age of 22 the youngster still has time to grow and mature.
French full-back Bacary Sagna was very vocal in his disapproval of big name player sales in the summer and a combination of injury concerns, the emergence of Carl Jenkinson and contractual disputes will lead Arsene Wenger to listen to offers for the experienced defender.
There is apparent interest from a number of sides across Europe and a decent offer will be considered by the Premier League side.
Swiss international Johan Djourou has stated his desire to remain at Hannover on permanent basis having been rewarded with the regular first team football he feels he deserves. The Bundesliga side could land the big defender for a fairly reasonable sum as Wenger is not likely to stand in the way of 26 year old, who has given Arsenal a decade plus of service from youth team to first team squad member.
French bit-part player Francis Coquelin has expressed his disappointment at the lack of first team chances afforded to him and having apparently discussed the matter with Wenger at length the Arsenal boss is ready to make the youngster available for sale though could be open to temporary offers for the 21 year old.
Coquelin joined Arsenal in 2008 but has thus far managed to secure just nine Premier League starts, this despite the fact he can fill in effectively in a number of roles.
As Wenger looks to make room for summer additions chief among his targets is Montenegro striker Stevan Jovetic, with Arsenal already in talks with the player’s representatives with Fiorentina apparently open to offers for the 23 year old.
The in-form striker is apparently keen to make a move to further his career progression and La Viola boss Vincenzo Montella has already made moves to prepare for such an exit, signing Giuseppe Rossi in the January transfer window despite the fact that the Villarreal man is still suffering from a lengthy injury.
Arsene Wenger is keen to strengthen an attack that relies heavily on Olivier Giroud as well benefiting from goal-scoring support from his creative midfield and wide attacking talents.
Jovetic bagged 14 goals in 27 Serie A appearances last term and has another dozen to his name this term and is a player Wenger is willing to offer as much as £25m to secure.
Having scouted a number of potential defensive midfielders over the past six months, and with no effective replacement for Alex Song having been purchased, Wenger has now set his sights on Celtic youngster Victor Wanyama.
The 21 year old Kenyan has impressed many over the past 18 months and his performances in the Champions League have proved to Wenger that the Parkhead midfielder is the ideal man to fill the void in the centre of the park. Arsenal are ready to make an opening offer of around £10m for Wanyama and will continue to track Toulouse enforcer Etienne Capoue for the remainder of the season as a possible back-up option.
Arsenal’s search for an experienced keeper has led them to Barcelona and to Victor Valdes, who has publicly stated his intention to leave the Nou Camp having turned down contract offers made to him in recent months.
The 31 year old is seen by Wenger as the ideal man for the job and will hope he can convince the Spanish international to move to the Emirates Stadium though a Champions League berth is crucial to their hopes of signing the three time Champions League winner.